These are a few of the first photos I have taken from the process of creating the final piece. The final piece will be complete in 6 weeks but you will not be able to tell what it is until you see it. I will just be posing various photos along the way…
A table is to be used to put things on like drinks, plates, magazines…your feet if you are lucky. It may be in a cafe, at an airport, in your living area, at a pub or a night club. But if you use that table in any way other than expected from how it is intended to be used, you are breaking the rules. I don’t want to strip the world from tables (with my awesome powers) but I am questioning whether a table can be the basis to develop from in terms of human interaction. Is it a barrier in a public environment where people are unlikely to share theirs? Is it enticing its user because it is providing interaction? From my experiment I will see other possibilities that can come from the pole that I will be using as a table. For now here are some photos from the development stage of my honours year.
I am working on a prototype at the moment. It is so simple. It is a basic pole.
I want to use it to test people in captive environments where it will stand. The first test I am going to do is simply use it as a table. Somewhere people will gather around the pole to drink hot/cold drinks. The pole will also act as a sketch pad to gather thoughts and answers to questions written on it. The reason for this is to firstly attract people to the pole and allow them to engage with it, because it is not a normal table…it is new and unexpected in this captive space. Secondly I will be observing how people interact with each other around this pole and compare the results to a normal captive environment with real tables and see how this pole has created a change in interaction.
After the first experiment (drawing on the pole and answering questions), I will test the users more and use different forms and materials and ask the users to do things ie. connect with a stranger through simple forms using the props provided but still using the pole as a base(for comfort?) I will use straws, cups etc to test the users to see how they interact with the opposing user at the pole. This will allow me to see first hand how people choose to interact with each other and from the experiment. I will look at the fun factor and the how comfort can be introduced to 2 strangers through such simple tasks and forms.
The result will be added to my initial design concepts which I will take further in my project. Watch! This space! For videos, photos and results of the experiment which will take place on Monday in the small University cafe.
I recently deleted my Facebook, the main reason being that I was getting distracted and felt like it was taking up a lot of my time. Since deleting it, I have realised that I don’t actually need it. Not knowing about what everyone is doing constantly puts my mind and my focus directly on my work and my own life. Deleting it has made me aware of what I need to do and what is and isn’t important in terms of doing well (at this point, my final year off study) and allowed me to do a substantial amount of work compared to before where I was constantly checking my notifications. Anyway this video I found shows us how obscure it would be to do the things we do constantly within our cyber-selves. Facebook has created a behaviour that doesn’t seem normal in real life: one that wouldn’t be socially accepted in the physical world.
I remember about 4 years ago, a designer I met in Edinburgh said to me ”Do chairs need legs?”, obviously promoting that as a designer you should think outside the box. Today I thought to myself, do cafes need tables? It is an interesting concept to think about. Perhaps materials would be saved in the long run, people could become interactive with each other again (physically) and a new design could allow this to happen just from a tiny thought.
I feel like I should give Mr Blog an update about what I have been getting up to.
Right now, I am sitting (21:48) with a very nice new Promarker, along with the others I just went into debt for, sketching up my concept plan. I have been concept sketching over the last few weeks mainly because my ideas come out best this way…I like to test and build when I have the product straight in my head. I think I’m on concept number 15 at the moment and hopefully my little spider map will take me a step further!
Apart from this, I have been watching a lot of documentaries recently and the ones I do watch I may hashtag (#)- people, lives, life, living, everyday, poverty, how other people live. Not only do I enjoy and have an interest in how other people live, I think it is important to know this. I know just from my upbringing that it is easy to get trapped and live carefree from the harsh lives of others until it pops up now and again on a t.v advert but now that I lead my own life I have a natural interest to learn about others. I could write for hours about it but we all have very different lives and everyone (the majority) will judge us on who/what/where we are. Working with Eastern Europen people in Britain in the summer, doing domestic work, waitressing etc always made me wonder why they didn’t want to buy new clothes or party after a pay check and I was ignorant to this thinking they were just working in Britain for money and nothing else. I think I am becoming relatively wise at the age of 23…or just more appreciative.
I will post some photos soon of the last few days and what’s been happening in sketchy book! Good night!
Raphael Charles- multiple table
I came across this table by Raphael Charles, and it gave me sudden inspiration. The table is connected through a magnetic field and can be adjusted and put into other shapes. The thought this image left in my head was if someone can bring something to the table (like a table leg/ post) then it may be possible that they leave having met a friend (someone else who used the table also)…back to sketching.
A few images from the exhibit area showing and explaining my project and research work. After this stage I will be designing and innovating to create a change in peoples distant behaviour within our society today.
I like it…Jacque Fresco and his vision for the future. Educating people through innovating and creating a resource based economy using science and technology.
This programme is great, showing fururistic ideas and ways of lving. It captures the intensity of the digital world and portrays the extent it can take on our lives. Connecting to dead people through internet/smart phones- as the internet has collected the characteristics and vocabulary of the dead person whilst they were still alive- to access to a morph of the dead persons body and bringing it to life…sounds scary and perhaps gross but this is a great show. Thinking into the future it would be hard to say what is and what is not possible.
Black Mirror-
my space our place 